THREE Years Ago Today. . .

. . . And more than THREE weeks earlier than planned, at 12:01 PM, a precious baby boy named Spencer Johnson Key came into our lives! Despite his being early, he still weighed 8 lbs and 9 oz, so as the one who delivered him, I am glad he was early. . . And when people said, "Oh, they must have miscalculated your due date." I smiled and replied that since I only saw David for 14 days out of the last calendar year, I am pretty sure the date was correct!" Yes, Spencer, our R&R baby was born shortly after Christmas after a slight scare. When I was diagnosed with preeclympsia and immediately admitted to the hospital, we abandoned hopes of David making it home for his birth. We were OK, though. As always, my wonderful family stepped up to the plate. Bay and my awesome cousin Nikki took excellent care of Jessa so that May could be with me. And through the miracles of modern technology, David was able to hear some of his first cries over a cell phone in Baghdad!

Spencer Johnson Key

Welcome to the World, Spencer! Meet your sister. . .

And 11 days later, Spencer got to meet his Daddy when he redeployed from Iraq last time.

Hi, Daddy! It's me, Spencer!

My Baby Boy is 1 year old!


Oh no, Spencer is 2!

I cannot believe that he is really "free" years old.

My sweet Spencer. My agreeable, content, so eager to please little man. He loves his sister more than anything in the world (even when she is not always so deserving of his devotion). He is so quiet about his accomplishments - the child potty trained himself without me even realizing it. Always content to be in the background and let Jessa shine. He runs his mouth constantly and is as snuggly and affectionate as they come. And since birth he has always been my good eater, leaving me one less thing to worry about.

He loves Thomas and any train he sees. He can turn a line of green beans into a train. He will be my last baby and he is growing up too fast for my taste. . .

Happy Birthday to my precious baby boy!

P.S. As I was on October 27, I tend to be overly emotional on their birthdays. Please forgive me and all my mommy pride today. . .

P.S.S. His big party will be later. We are still adjusting to the new house and having Daddy home. Bless his heart, he will always have to compete with Christmas and New Year's, and this year, we are extra busy. BUT we are all so relieved that David was actually here for one of their birthdays!!! We'll take what we can get!